Monthly Archives: January 2017

Adrenaline-fuelled alt-rockers Where Fires Are recentl released their new single I’ve Got The Time, taken from their brand new EP One Four Six One.Combining huge guitar riffs with melodic hooks I’ve Got The Time is a stadium-sized rock anthem, bursting with power and driven by frontman Robbie’s striking tones and harmonic vocals. The track has already seen support from both Kerrang Radio and Amazing Radio.This is the first taste of their new four-track EP One Four Six One, which is available to stream online from February 2nd. A fiery collection which showcases the band’s expertly crafted sound, it balances their explosive energy with emotionally charged melodies and expressive lyrics.

Hailing from Leeds, the five piece have turned heads with their previous 2015 Orange EP, which saw them championed by the likes of BBC Introducing’s Alan Raw and BBC 6 Music’s Tom Robinson gaining them their first taste of national airplay.A veritable whirlwind on stage, Where Fires Are have secured slots at some of the UK’s biggest festivals including Reading and Leeds, Tramlines, Live at Leeds, Kendal Calling and Willow Festival while establishing an ever-growing loyal fan-base across the country.In support of the new EP, the band are heading out on the One Four Six One UK tour next month, kicking off on the 2nd February at Edinburgh’s Bannermans, taking in London’s 93 Feet East on the15th before concluding in their home town at Brudenell Social Club on the 24th. You can check out I’ve Got The Time below!

We managed to catch up with vocalist Robbie Gillespie as he talks about the upcoming EP, latest single, music scene in Leeds and more!

So how pumped are you to be releasing One, Four, Six, One?

We’re very excited. We’re all really proud of this EP and we started planning it almost 7 months ago, so it’s great to finally be unleashing it.

What is your favourite song from this release?

My favourite song from the EP is ‘Die or Survive’. I think it shows the full spectrum of our sound while also giving a slight nod towards a subtly different direction that we might head down in the future. Of course we might not. Who knows. I know that a couple of the guys would pick ‘It Feels Right’ as their favourite because of how enjoyable it is to play live. The large instrumental section in that song is easily some of the best music we’ve ever recorded.

Tell us a bit about the EP.

Our original plan for 2017 was to just release a single. Then, when we were in the midst of the writing process, all this stuff kept coming out that we were really getting into. We decided we had too much material that we wanted people to hear for us to justify just releasing one track. So the EP was born. There’s a lot of music that didn’t make the cut… almost enough for a full album actually. Last year we played a show over in New York. That was a significant moment for us. It was also around that time that we had started to put the tracks that would end up on the EP into our live set – so we wanted to link the EP to New York somehow. That’s where the name came from… our apartment number in Brooklyn was 1461.

Would you say this is different from previous releases such as Orange?

The Orange EP was great for us. It was the first time this band had spent a good amount of time in a studio, which was exciting. It was the first real chance for us to put our writing under the microscope and I think it taught us a lot about where we wanted to take our music. One Four Six One is different and yet intrinsically linked because it’s sort of… the by-product of those lessons. It’s a far more mature record. I think it’s also a little more daring, more interesting. There are less tracks on One Four Six One than there are on The Orange EP but there’s more quality.

How has the lead single ‘I’ve Got The Time’ gone down with fans so far?

So far people seem to be enjoying it. It was the obvious choice for lead single because we think it’s a little more accessible than the others. It’s simpler and sort of breaks you in gently for the rest of the EP. All the songs carry little pieces of the same vibe though, which allows the EP to run really nicely. It’s been a feature of our live set for longer than the other three EP tracks so some people are already kind of familiar with it, which is cool. It’s catchy and if you’re the type who likes to dance a bit at gigs, you can definitely dance to this one, so that’s cool too.

If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?

This question would probably be answered differently by every band member. For me, it would be Incubus. That band have been making incredible music for well over 20 years and are the absolute masters of subtle reinvention. Brandon Boyd is by far my biggest influence, vocally. I think the stuff you could learn by spending just one day in a room with those guys would be invaluable.

What has been your proudest moment to date?

For me, it was the New York trip. We’ve been fortunate enough to have had a few proud moments since the band started, such as Reading and Leeds in 2015 and getting our first radio play on BBC and Kerrang! was great. That New York trip though… none of us had ever been to New York before so to be going out there to play music was just an incredible feeling. I’ll never forget the taxi journey from the airport to our apartment. It was about 45 minutes long and all five us just sat in silence almost the entire time, in awe of what was around us. That was a big moment for this band and one we are hoping to build upon in 2017.

What is the music scene like in Leeds?

The music scene in Leeds is great. It seems very healthy. There’s quite a mix of genres out there and a lot of really high quality acts. None of us are actually from Leeds but we’ve all lived here for almost 7 years. It’s definitely the spiritual home of our music. People are receptive to Alternative Rock, which is awesome. More importantly though, people enjoy seeing bands trying things a little differently. I’d definitely say Leeds has the best music scene of the Northern Cities. Every time I’m in Manchester it feels like people just want another swaggering guy in a duffle coat and in Liverpool they want another bunch of guys in tight-fitting suits. Credit where credit is due – Manchester and Liverpool have made a gigantic and everlasting mark on the worldwide music scene, let alone the British scene. I just think at the moment, people in Leeds have less patience for artists who are just regurgitating something that’s already been done. It keeps the musicians in the Leeds scene on their toes.

What venue are you most looking forward to be playing in February?

Brudenell Social Club in Leeds for the final date of the tour. That place is iconic. It has a real cult appeal to it and some of the names who have graced the stage there in the past are ridiculous! Playing there is a big deal and we can’t wait to cross it off the list.

Belgium’s heavy atmospheric three-piece BRUTUS have revealed Drive, the colossal second single from their forthcoming debut album Burst, due for release via Hassle Records this February 24th. Check out the song below!

Having debuted on Daniel P Carter’s BBC Radio 1 Rock Show, and dubbed a ‘a powerful and thrilling blend of punk, rock, indie and hardcore that’ll get the teeth in your skull rattling.’ by the NME, singing drummer Stefanie Mannaerts reveals, ‘Drive is a song that was written about someone else – I’ve had these lyrics for four years, but this is the first time they’ve really fit within a song.

‘It can be hard to come across aggressively without screaming and yelling, but ‘Drive’ is one of the tracks where I’ve tried to get the message across just by singing.

‘I need to be on top of my skills to pull this one off – with the drum-fills right before the verse, we tried to make it sound like we were literally pushing a drum down the stairs that keeps on playing whilst crashing down.’

Recent single All Along saw Brutus arrive in a pummelling, meteor-shower of sound, described by Kerrang! as “atmospheric punk fucking rock, with a twist of Mogwai”. They have since been championed by the likes of NME, Punktastic, Upset Magazine and more as a One to Watch for 2017, and left audiences stunned at a full capacity show at Eurosonic Noorderslag.

Stefanie’s unshakeable drumming style merges black-metal blast beats against math-rock flourishes whilst belting the most impassioned vocals, shifting from deceptively melodic to out-right larynx-punishing in the blink of an eye (watch Brutus play ‘All Along’ in-session for Red Bull Studios here), whilst guitarist Stijn Vanhoegaerden takes ethereal post-rock tones to hardcore punk levels of speed and energy aside Peter Mulders’ powerful sub-frequency shift. The three collide to make a sound as monolithic and frantic as it is emotive.

‘For this record, I had to dig deep into hidden and guarded emotions,’ Stefanie reveals.

‘It’s not so easy to sing about myself, so I used the third person.

‘And it’s also not easy to drum a blast-beat over a melodic vocal to capture some exact feelings.’

Brutus began life playing a hardcore homage to Refused, recreating the Swedish legends’ pivotal album The Shape Of Punk To Come in its entirety at tribute shows. Only when Stefanie turned up to an audition in 2014 to play a note-perfect version of the entire album, casually blowing away all-comers, did it become apparent that it was time for Brutus to make their own shape of punk to come. ‘I’d heard about Stefanie around on the scene before I saw her play,’ says bassist Peter Mulders. ‘Everyone told me I had to check out this new drummer who beat everyone else, hands down.

‘And she did. Her talent is disarming.’

‘Brutus was never about our shared influences, but instead three different personalities coming together and forming new friendships,’ says Peter of their inception. ‘But being in Brutus is not easy,’ Stefanie is quick to add. ‘Our tastes are often in conflict, but somehow it all comes together when the three of us are writing songs or step onto a stage. I love Slayer, Stijn loves Bruce Springsteen and Peter loves The Weekend, but we quickly realised that the fact is: I hate Bruce Springsteen and The Weeknd, Peter has never checked Slayer and Stijn loves everything. So let’s make a record together!;

Having gigged rigorously across Belgium, in April 2016 Brutus decamped to Vancouver to record Burst. ‘We sent an email to Jesse Gander (Japandroids, White Lung etc), his reply with sushi emoji’s was an instant ticket,’ Stefanie explains. ‘The time in Canada, living together and working in the studio, was refreshing, inspiring, healing and confronting at the same time – some rehearsals ended with a fight after 10 minutes, and some songs took 10 weeks to finish.’

Burst is the perfect title for this debut album, then. ‘It’s the perfect title for me,’ Stefanie adds. ‘It’s a ball of emotions, ready to burst with frustration and anger. But also with tons of energy, love, everything at once.’ Trouble comes in threes… and so does Brutus.

Reminiscent of forward thinking metal acts such as Architects, Northlane and In Hearts Wake, DEFERENCE’s latest EP revolves around the concept of a man-made apocalyptic world, exploring manipulation, loss and destruction. From the passionate vocal delivery to the captivating melodies and crushing percussion this is an exciting release for the melodic metal outfit, who not only deliver hard-hitting material but also a relevant message.

North West independent record label Loner Noise are proud to presentWRONG Festival – A Festival For The Freakscene, a one day happening on the 22nd April 2017 at the newly formed creative hub of the Liverpool Docklands. Tickets are on sale now HERE.

Watch and share the official trailer here:

Aiming to create something truly unique and very special for the first time in Liverpool, organisers are proud to announce that Japanese psych legendsBo Ningen will be topping a bill which brings together the disparate scenes from the heavier and stranger corners of rock music on a freaked-out ride from punk to noise to psychedelia and everywhere in between.

The event takes place across three venues: The Kazimier team’s much lauded new venture Invisible Wind Factory, latest after-party hotspot The North Shore Troubadour, and local DIY venue stalwarts Drop the Dumbulls. It will play host to 30 bands across the venues running from afternoon until late at night, and continuing the party into the small hours.

Recently supporting the mighty Primal Scream and originally hailing from Japan but now based in London, Bo Ningen have a ferocious reputation for exhilarating live insanity. The band have released three critically acclaimed albums to date and have collaborated with Savages, earning widespread acclaim from the likes of The Quietus, DIY, The Line of Best Fit and The New York Times.

They will be joined by a host of underground heroes in the form of Brighton’s finest surf-doom outfit The Wytches, extreme noise mob Heck whose raucous live shows are the stuff of legend, dark-humoured noise rock quartetBlacklisters, Glasgow’s foremost psychonauts The Cosmic Dead, near-legendary UK underground heroes Part Chimp, the immediate, cutting mutant-pop of Cowtown, and many more.

The festival will also introduce bands from the fledgling Loner Noise label roster including Elevant, SPQR, Gravves, Pocket Apocalypse, Too Many Poets and Duke Mercury.

A city not necessarily known for its heavier underground rock scene, but one that’s utterly steeped in rich musical heritage, WRONG intends to be the first festival in the city to tie together Liverpool’s extremely talented (if sometimes overlooked) ever-growing pool of visceral and exciting heavy bands, as well as bringing high profile leaders and legends of the Freakscene to the city for rare live outings in the region.

Syre was formed and came out kicking and screaming in 1986. With members from Toronto, London and Kitchener they brought their unique brand of glam to the Canadian scene and through non-stop touring 50 weeks a year, built a strong live following of dedicated supporters. They began touring in the U.S and garnered a deal there to compliment their 1989 Canadian A&M Records deal by signing with Chicago based Red Light/Warner Bros. Syre also began to get some interest in Europe and Japan and leveraged on that to land deals with Intercore Records (Europe) and Sony (Japan). Syre toured coast to coast in to the mid 90’s leaving a swath of ringing ears and empty liquor stores, their livers retired in 88! Over the years they’ve had the pleasure of supporting many great acts including Helix, Nitro, Brighton Rock, Goddo, Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, The Sweet and many more! What a ride! Syre continues to do selective dates and still enjoys a cold beer and a bright stage….if you see them around be sure to join the party.

Syre is: Doug Weir, lead vocals, Chip Gall, rhythm guitar, vocals, Rick Mead, Lead guitar, vocals and Chris Caron bass, vocals and Jamie Constant, drums. Demon Doll Records has released the reissue of Syre’s second album Pissed to the Gills. This reissue follows the reissue of Syre’s first album It Ain’t Pretty Being Easy. Syre still has all original members and continues doing live dates in 2017. Listen to Fight Fire With Fire below!

We managed to catch up with frontman Doug, as they he talks about the new reissued albums, favourite song, proudest moment and more!

So what’s different to the reissue of ‘Pissed to the Gills’ and ‘It ain’t pretty being easy’? Our new deal with Demon Doll Records out of Hollywood provided an opportunity to have our first 2 albums remastered with new artwork. They sound better and have a fresh look. It was interesting to hear how a fresh pair of ears interpreted our music and the same goes for the artwork. The difference between the 2 albums is significant too. On the first record we were a little more constrained by the need to get radio play, so it was mixed to be more radio friendly. The second album allowed us to stretch our creative wings a bit more, so I think it ended up heavier with a bit of unorthodox thrown in.

What is your favourite song from both of the albums?

My favorite song from the It ain’t Pretty Being Easy album is I’m with you but it depends on my mood, if you asked me on the right day it might be In Your Eyes. From the Pissed to the Gills album it would be the song Believe. I love the riff and the chorus is huge…

Will you guys be writing new music soon?

I think it depends on the demand for new Syre music, if people want more at some point we’ll give them more!

So you guys tour a lot, do you find it hard being on the road and write music too?

It is difficult to travel and remain up for writing. That said the road gives you many interesting topics and ways of looking at things that you can use in the writing process. We’re not touring right now so it is a good time for me to reload on song ideas.

If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?

For me personally it would be Aerosmith. They write amazing songs with perfect melodies mixed with cool rhythm section grooves and topped with the best guitar riffs! They seem like they’d be a fun crew to hang out with as well. I think the hybrid you’d get from their blues based rock and our glam would make for some interesting listening.

What has been your proudest moment to date?

Musically it would be the first time I heard one of our songs on the radio. I think we were driving in our van down the Trans Canada highway, which is a highway the spans the length of Canada, and it came on we were blown away to hear it come on. Second to that was when our video was first played on Much Music, Canada’s MTV. It’s great when you work towards something all your life and you get to realize that part of your dreams, incredible.

How helpful has the guys at Demon Doll Records been?

We have really enjoyed working with Demon Doll. They’ve got a great roster of bands and they really have a great understanding of the genre. It’s all been very positive and it’s good to not be mixed in with a bunch of bands and record company exec’s that come from different musical styles, it’s easy in those circumstances to end up having someone look after your band who has no interest in your style of music. So Demon Doll has been a breath of fresh air.

Have you got any upcoming tour dates?

We’re working on a few things but I can’t mention anything until it’s firmed up. We’d love to get out and see people again!

Thanks again for the questions and a huge thanks to our listeners out there! We really appreciate that you give us some of your time to listen to our music! Cheers!

Alter Eden recently shared details of their next EP Tigers & Lambs which is set for release on the 17th February 2017. The EP was produced and mixed by Mark Roberts (Black Peaks) in Brighton and mastered by Peter Hewitt-Dutton (Bring Me The Horizon, Led Zeppelin) at Metropolis.

Tigers & Lambs is the second EP from Alter Eden, following up from their 2015 debut Fearless. With this new release we see a band further down the road of life, building on their experiences to bring a fresh rock approach. While Fearless was just that.. Tigers & Lambs is a confident statement of intent, Alter Eden are here to be heard!

We managed to catch up with the band as they talked about the upcoming EP, title song, proudest moment and more!

So you will be releasing Tigers & Lambs next month, are you pumped for the release?
We’re literally shaking with excitement – we’ve been building towards this for the last 18 months of our lives, with every move being made towards the release of this EP. Pumped would be an understatement!

Tell us about the EP
The EP is a statement of where our lives are at the moment – a comparison and juxtaposition of our youth, innocence and naivety, and our age, experience and knowledge – hence, Tigers & Lambs (With a fairly heavy reference to the William Blake poems).

What is your favourite song from the release?
Personally, I think it’s ‘We’ve Had Enough’ – the main single from the EP. It’s exciting, edgy, but has a lot of meaning behind it and says a lot about where we are and where we’re coming from

How has the title song gone down with fans so far?
Incredibly well! It’s an amazing experience when you drop a video and then a few weeks later you’re having people sing it back to you in live shows. It’s gotta be one of the best feelings ever.

How was it working with Peter Hewitt-Dutton and Mark Roberts?
Both Mark and Pete were amazing – We tracked down Mark after hearing his work with Black Peaks on Radio 1 – we heard one of their tracks and said ‘that’s it! THAT’S the sound!’ – It turns out he’s not just incredibly talented, but also one of the nicest human beings on the planet too.

Pete was also brilliant to work with – Mastering just feels like black magic to our ears – they take the track, go away, add some ‘sound better-er’ magic to it and it comes back sounding great!

Will there be a tour with the release?
Absolutely! We started it with a cheeky preliminary show on Saturday. The rest of the dates can be found below!

If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
For me, personally, I think I’d work with Thirty Seconds to Mars – Jared Leto feels like a kindred spirit in the way that his work ethic comes through in everything they do, and also the whole frontman/video director thing as well.

What has been your proudest moment to date?
Come the 17th of February, I think it’ll be the new EP! Until then however, I think being nominated for Best Rock band and Best Music video at the Staffordshire & Cheshire Music awards is probably up there.

How much does your fans mean to you?
Everything. Absolutely everything. I think if, as a band, you’re not doing it all for your fans, something is very, very wrong. It’s all about them and it always will be.

Liverpool pop punks WSTR headlined a show in Southampton last Tuesday (24th January) alongside Seaway, The Gospel Youth and Fair Weather. We managed to catch up with the band before their Joiners show as they talked about the tour, latest album Red, Green or Inbetween, No Sleep Records and much more! Check out the interview below.

A packed out Wembley Arena witnessed 48 songs of emo, pop punk and metalcore greatness on Friday night (27th January). Thousands on people turned up on the night as two British bands and two American bands produced one of the best shows Wembley Arena would of witnessed. First up was Canterbury emo band Moose Blood who once again killed their set like they every single time. Lead singer Eddy Brewerton and the band began with the up beat Honey from their latest album Blush. Another from the album, Glow, was then performed before they played an older song from their debut album I’ll Keep You in Mind, From Time to Time which was Boston. Classics Swim Down, Gum and Bukowski were performed with excellence. Moose Blood ended on a newer single Knuckles which was a perfect way to end their set – they’ve come a long way since playing at the likes of 200 people at Southampton’s Joiners.

Moose Blood

Welsh band Neck Deep then flew the flag for pop punk and started with Gold Steps, the lead single from their latest album Life’s Not Out To Get You. Lead singer Ben Barlow really grasped at the chance of performing some of Neck Deep’s catchy songs. Lime St. and then Barlow teased right at the end of Kali Ma. The lead singer claimed that A Day To Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon was going to join him on stage like they do on the single however he was a no show. With Serpents and Rock Bottom following,it took a while before an older song was played and that song was worth the wait. A Part of Me got everyone with phones and lighters out try and create a magical moment and it certainly lived up to expectations. December and Can’t Kick Up The Roots then finished off the night for Neck Deep as the up and coming band are certainly making a name for themselves.

Neck Deep

From new pop punk to old, American band New Found Glory took to the stage as they celebrated 20 years of pop punk. Lead singer Jordan Pundik and the band really showed why they have been successful for so long. They started off the night with their classic All Downhill From Here which really got fans in the mood and already created a good vibe with their music. Songs such as Selfless and Hold My Hand then followed as pop punk fans got exactly what they wanted. New Found Glory also played their Sixpence None The Richer cover Kiss Me which was a real treat to witness. Vicious Love and My Friends Over You really turned back the years as the Florida band proved pop punk is well and truly alive as fans were about to listen to something a bit more heavier.

Last up was Florida band A Day To Remember who have been headlining this massive tour titled ‘Bad Vibes World Tour’ to go with with their latest album Bad Vibrations. McKinnon, Neil Westfall, Joshua Woodard, Alex Shelnutt and Kevin Skaff all put on one hell of a show. They started off with Me Highway’s Thinking About The End from their Homesick album which was a perfect way to start off the show with very heavy element to it. One of the band;s latest singles Paranoia was then performed which totally brought the house down and suddenly mosh pits were breaking out everywhere. 2nd Sucks just created mayhem and a whole host of songs from their previous albums followed.

A Day To Remember

Fast Forward to 2012 was a personal favourite of mine so it was awesome to see the band play it live from the For Those Who Have Heart album which turned ten years just five days before the gig. Songs from the new album included the title song Bad Vibrations, Jutified, Exposed and pop punk song Naivity however for me it was about their older songs. The encore in particular was amazing with the beautiful If It Means A Lot To You and The Downfall of us All that just gave you goosebumps. A Day To Remember certainly proved they are still some of the best entertainers in the world of rock and overall put on an amazing show!

Canadian pop punks Seaway headlined a show in Southampton last Tuesday (24th January) alongside WSTR, The Gospel Youth and Fair Weather. We managed to catch up with the band before their Joiners show as they talked about the tour, new music, Pure Noise Records and much more! Check out the interview below.

‘Everyday Sidekicks has always been a strange name to people, but to us it’s just a representation of the little guy.

‘We wanted our music to relate to everyone in some way and we feel everyone can relate to the Sidekick in a comic book: never quite being the hero but you’re always there when you are needed, standing by through thick and thin, no matter how tough the road ahead can get,’

says Archie Hatfield, vocalist of the Bristolian quartet Everyday Sidekicks. Today announcing their forthcoming sophomore EP Hope, due for self-release on 31st March, Everyday Sidekicks reveal the source of the title runs deep: ‘Hope to us is a hugely important factor in life.

‘You constantly have obstacles thrown at you that you need to overcome, times change and sometimes it’s not always good things that come your way.

‘Without Hope for things to get better, life can get on top of you.’

Completed by Guitarist Tim Brown, Bassist Sam Hughes and Drummer Mat Capper, the post-hardcore crew have unleashed their first glimmer of hope in the form of video single Fracturehere. ‘Fracture is about the way image effects the music industry.

‘A lot of bands careers can be made by image alone and we feel it’s a big insult to smaller bands that work hard and have good music, that haven’t been given a shot due to them not being marketable enough.

‘We felt Fracture was a good lead single as it showcased our new style of music. It’s a lot more riff based than our previous releases and shows a lot more energy.’
Recorded at Monnow Valley Studios with Tom Manning, the band feel Hope is a huge jump from prior EP The Things I’ve Seen, the release of which led to them sharing the stage with the likes of Marmozets, Slaves (UK) and Coldrain. Progression comes not only in songwriting ability but en masse, at least in part thanks to the sheer passion of their producer: ‘He pushed us to play better and really put in the effort, so that we feel now that a big part of our sound has actually come from working with him.

‘He likes to make things a lot less over produced and more stripped back and raw, which we are really starting to dig in our sound.’

Themeatically the band are attempting to avoid becoming ‘a one trick pony’ and so keep things diverse, with Hope spanning topics from heartbreak to the state of the world. Suppleness doesn’t end at the lyrics either – although they can be currently best typified as post-hardcore – the band reveal ‘our sound is a lot more flexible than most artists in our local scene and for our future releases, as we combine several different styles of music. We aim to create our own sound as much as possible, but you can always tell hints of our influences in our music, such as A Day To Remember and Beartooth.

‘We like to think of ourselves as a blend of teeth gritting hardcore mixed with the pop punk roots that we all come from.‘

Whilst the pop punk influence may be subtle, at least at this stage, there is no denying the aggression and venom, despite the hopeful outlook.Hope Tracklisting: 1. Glass House | 2. Bury Your Friends | 3. Fracture | 4. Lacuna | 5. Business Secrets Of The Pharaohs